Experimental Particle Physics Rolling Grant 2006-2011
Lead Research Organisation:
Lancaster University
Department Name: Physics
Abstract
This research is aimed at understanding the properties of the basic building blocks of the Universe (the elementary particles) and the nature of the fundamental forces which govern the interactions of these particles. In so doing, deep insights will be gained about the origin and evolution of the Universe, especially in the first moments after the Big Bang. The Lancaster research programme covers all the main types of accelerator facilities and is based on hadron collider physics with the Tevatron (Fermilab) and LHC (CERN) machines, the observation of long baseline neutrino oscillations in Japan and, in the longer term future, high energy electron-positron collisions at the International Linear Collider (ILC). All of this work will be underpinned by Lancaster's expertise in characterising and understanding the properties of heavily irradiated silicon particle detectors, in operating high performance computing facilities on the Grid and in writing offline event reconstruction software. The hadron collider physics is expected to reveal detailed properties of B hadrons (containing heavy b-quarks) including the mixing of neutral B mesons containing strange quarks, and CP violation which is related to the existence of the matter-antimatter asymmetry in the Universe. Searches for new physics at the LHC will focus on understanding the origin of mass (and the role of the Higgs boson), the existence of new symmetries of nature (e.g. supersymmetry) and extra spatial dimensions. The neutrino oscillations programme is expected to provide important information about the masses of and the amount of mixing amongst the three known species of neutrinos. If the appearance of electron neutrinos can be observed in a muon neutrino beam then it may be possible, in a further phase of the research, to establish the existence of CP violation in the neutrino sector of the Standard Model. This could have wide reaching implications for the understanding of the matter-antimatter asymmetry of the Universe. The electron-positron collider (the ILC) will enable a continuation of some of the research performed at the LHC but with a facility of greater precision and versatility. It could be especially crucial for the elucidation of the properties of the Higgs boson and supersymmetry if they exist as well as being an abundant source of top quraks.
Organisations
Publications
Abazov V
(2009)
Determination of the strong coupling constant from the inclusive jet cross section in p p ¯ collisions at s = 1.96 TeV
in Physical Review D
Abazov V
(2009)
Combination of t t ¯ cross section measurements and constraints on the mass of the top quark and its decays into charged Higgs bosons
in Physical Review D
Abazov V
(2011)
Measurement of the top quark pair production cross section in the lepton + jets channel in proton-antiproton collisions at s = 1.96 TeV
in Physical Review D
Abazov V
(2012)
Improved determination of the width of the top quark
in Physical Review D
Abazov V
(2008)
Search for supersymmetry in di-photon final states at s = 1.96 TeV
in Physics Letters B
Abazov V
(2008)
Search for Large Extra Dimensions via Single Photon plus Missing Energy Final States at s = 1.96 TeV
in Physical Review Letters
Abazov V
(2007)
Multivariate searches for single top quark production with the D0 detector
in Physical Review D
Abazov V
(2011)
Search for flavor changing neutral currents in decays of top quarks
in Physics Letters B
Abazov V
(2006)
Search for particles decaying into a Z boson and a photon in p p ¯ collisions at s = 1.96 TeV
in Physics Letters B
Abazov V
(2012)
Search for anomalous Wtb couplings in single top quark production in p p ¯ collisions at s = 1.96 TeV
in Physics Letters B
Abazov V
(2011)
Direct measurement of the mass difference between top and antitop quarks
in Physical Review D
Abazov V
(2007)
Search for single production of scalar leptoquarks in p p ¯ collisions decaying into muons and quarks with the D0 detector
in Physics Letters B
Abazov V
(2010)
Measurement of the t-channel single top quark production cross section
in Physics Letters B
Abazov V
(2008)
Measurement of the ratio of the p p ¯ ? W + c -jet cross section to the inclusive p p ¯ ? W + jets cross section
in Physics Letters B
Abazov V
(2013)
Studies of W boson plus jets production in p p ¯ collisions at s = 1.96 TeV
in Physical Review D
Abazov V
(2014)
Electron and photon identification in the D0 experiment
in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
Abazov V
(2008)
Search for squarks and gluinos in events with jets and missing transverse energy using 2.1 fb-1 of p p ¯ collision data at s = 1.96 TeV
in Physics Letters B
Abazov V
(2011)
Search for pair production of the scalar top quark in the electron + muon final state
in Physics Letters B
Abazov V
(2013)
Search for the rare decay B s 0 ? µ + µ -
in Physical Review D
Abazov V
(2010)
Evidence for an anomalous like-sign dimuon charge asymmetry
in Physical Review D
Abazov V
(2012)
Search for W H associated production in p p ¯ collisions at s = 1.96 TeV
in Physical Review D
Abazov V
(2010)
Measurement of direct photon pair production cross sections in p p ¯ collisions at s = 1.96 TeV
in Physics Letters B
Abazov V
(2010)
Dependence of the t t ¯ production cross section on the transverse momentum of the top quark
in Physics Letters B
Abazov V
(2012)
Measurement of the differential cross section d s / d t in elastic p p ¯ scattering at s = 1.96 TeV
in Physical Review D
Abazov V
(2011)
Precise measurement of the top-quark mass from lepton + jets events at D0
in Physical Review D